Linda and I went to hear Norah O’Donnell from CBS interviewed by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Connie Schultz. O’Donnell is on tour for her bestselling book, We the Women. Two smart, funny women in conversation. Gramercy Books Bexley sponsored the program held at the Columbus College of Art & Design.
(Personal note. Connie Schultz’ husband is Senator Sherrod Brown. There was a great deal of applause when he snuck in to sit a a couple rows ahead of us. I hope he’s our senator again in the near future.)
O’Donnell’s book covers 250 years of history for the 250th anniversary of the United States. She spent three years researching and writing women’s stories that are not covered in history books. Women’s stories were not saved or covered in the past, so it took longer than she expected to research it. She said she didn’t learn about these hidden heroes in school. Only 15% of what we learn in school is about women. Women are not footnotes. They are central to the events of the last two hundred fifty years. Women’s history wasn’t even covered until the 1970s.
O’Donnell’s book is broken into fifty year segments. The first segment includes Mercy Otis Warren, part of the other power couple during Revolutionary times, along with John and Abigail Adams. Because Mercy was anti-Federalist, she and Adams were on opposite sides of the discussions.
Schultz mentioned that O’Donnell covers Phillis Wheatley, the first published black woman poet, and included lots of women of color.In response, O’Donnell said at Seneca Falls when the suffragettes presented the Declaration of Sentiments, there were no black women there. Frederick Douglass was there, and covered it for his paper, but no black women were included.
Schultz and O’Donnell used the phrase, “Carry as you climb”, in regards to women who rose despite rejection, and assisted other women to climb. Asked about her own background, O’Donnell said she wanted to have a front row seat to history. She was an Army brat. No matter where they were, her parents read newspapers. They revered journalists. Barbara Walters was the first woman journalist that O’Donnell saw, and she wanted to be like her.
Although Connie Schultz and I are the same age, Norah O’Donnell is younger, only 52. She said the 1970s were a turning point for women, the second feminist movement. Ruth Bader Ginsburg argued six cases before the Supreme Court, and won five. Title IX from 1972 is the reason more women won medals than men during the last Olympics.
Asked what she learned about herself as a journalist, O’Donnell said “Trust your gut. Follow your curiosity. Have confidence in yourself.” Why is her book, We the Women resonating with people? People want to know about women in history, the challenges they faced, and how they got through those challenges. Women embody the best of America.
I’ve heard a lot of authors over the years, but this was one of the best programs I’ve attended. Two excellent journalists in conversation about a timely topic, women who have basically disappeared from American history. O’Donnell’s book, We the Women, brings them back into focus. She quoted journalist Tim Russert. “Tell me something I don’t know.” O’Donnell’s book does just that.
We the Women: The Hidden Heroes who shaped America by Norah O’Donnell with Kate Andersen Brown. Ballantine Books, 9780593727027 (hardcover), 2026.
